


i just want to play it right

by voidheart (voidzhaus)



Category: Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Genre: Feelings Realization, M/M, double tagged protag because i don't know which to use for male!protag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 09:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25967677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidzhaus/pseuds/voidheart
Summary: Who knew that Racter was capable of understanding human feeling?
Relationships: Protagonist/Racter (Shadowrun: Hong Kong)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	i just want to play it right

The run at Deckcon 2056 had been… strangely quiet. Is0bel was able to acquire the decryption key she needed. Duncan had kept any violence on the down-low with sheer intimidation… all in all, a successful run.

Voidheart, the blue-haired elven decker, had quite possibly the worst post-con fatigue out of the group. Sleep threatened to take him, and the lull of the MTR lent no help to keep him awake. His eyes were about to flutter shut when a chirp in his commlink sent a jolt right through him.

“Voidheart, my friend!”

“Ah, frag, Racter. You scared the drek out of me.”

Voidheart straightened his slumped posture. He patted himself down and pulled out his pad to enable a video call.

“My apologies.” Racter replied. “You look like hell. Did the run go sideways?”

“Oddly enough, no… minimal bloodshed. Worst injury was on Is0bel, but it was nothing more than an apparent bruise.”

The human on the other end of the call nodded.

“A bit disappointing.” he commented. “More importantly, are you alright?”

Racter’s question made Voidheart visibly confused.

“...of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be? Guess a better question is why would you ask that?”

There’s a moment of silence before he answered.

“That’s the reason why I’m calling you right now. Does Kindly need you after you get back?”

Voidheart raised an eyebrow.

“As far as I’m aware, no. Is it something we can talk about now? I’m twenty minutes from Heoi.”

“No.” Racter curtly stated. “I need to discuss this face-to-face.”

“Privately?”

“Privately.”

The elf let a tiny sigh go.

“Alright. You’re going to have to give me a few to collect the reward and help out Is0bel if she needs me.”

“Of course. I’ll be in my workshop when you arrive.”

As quickly as the call came in, it disappeared. Is0bel stirred slowly and muttered something to herself. Her eyes slowly opened and immediately looked to Voidheart.

“Did you need me, Seattle?”

Voidheart shook his head.

“Not right now, no. Actually, Izz… do you want to do the whole memory thing tonight or tomorrow?”

“Ah…” the dwarf yawned. “It can wait until tomorrow. I’d want to be fully awake for that.”

There was only a hum of acknowledgment from the other decker.

The rest of the trip back to Heoi was spent in total silence between the three shadowrunners. It was during this time, though, that Voidheart started to consider just _what the hell Racter wanted._ What was so important, so… _sensitive_ that it needed to be talked about face-to-face?

Just as Voidheart was about to fall asleep from the MTR rocking him gently, it screeched to a halt. This gave just about everyone in the train the jolt of energy they needed to get up and more - even if the only ones getting off at the Heoi stop were Duncan, Is0bel, and Voidheart. Once the three arrived at The Kraken, Duncan and Is0bel each handed to their respective rooms. The former, though, stopped and turned around when he noticed that Voidheart wasn’t close behind him.

“Damien?”

Voidheart looked up from the mission computer. He unplugged his deck just as the nuyen was transferred to it.

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t you going to bed?”

There’s a moment of silence as Voidheart thought of what to say.

“In a moment. I have to talk to Racter about something.”

The mention of the rigger’s name immediately made Duncan go on edge.

“I know you don’t like him, Duncan. But, he’s a valuable member of the team. Like it or not, we need his expertise.”

The orc sighed and shook his head in disapproval. He then returned to his own room without another word.

With the reward collected and everyone in their own rooms, Voidheart was finally free to climb down into the engine room and see just what Racter wanted to discuss.

He hesitated.

Voidheart couldn’t think of a reason why the discussion needed to be private on the MTR; after Duncan’s reaction, though, he could think of one reason: for Racter, he had been acting… strangely. He had been rushing over to Voidheart’s side and reviving him with a DocWagon Trauma Kit whenever he was gravely wounded - something that he has never done before, nor does to anyone else.

To be honest, Voidheart quite enjoyed that. Every time that the rigger did something to him that he hasn’t done for anyone before, he felt… a sort of astral connection. It felt comforting to be in his presence, and he loved it. 

He took a deep breath before opening the hatch to Racter’s workshop and descending into the red-lit abyss below.

“...you wanted to see me?”

Racter, who had been hunched over his workbench doing God-knows-what, stopped what he was doing and looked up. His back was still to Voidheart as he spoke.

“You’re alone, yes?”

Voidheart nodded, knowing that he couldn’t see it. “Of course.”

Racter slowly turned around, a sly smirk apparent. He patted his lap before standing up, prompting Koschei - who was lying on the table - to hop off and down to the floor. Its beady red eyes stared into Voidheart’s essence as his handler straightened out his coat. “Do you understand Russian?” he asked, speaking in the language in question.

It took a brief moment for Voidheart’s linguisoft chip to kick in. When it did, though, he nodded.

“I do, yes, but it’s through an implant.”

“Good. Let’s proceed to speak as such. I don’t want anybody eavesdropping on us.”

The switch in language made Voidheart much more suspicious of the human. He pushed the worries aside, though, to allow him to itch the curiosity in his brain and listen to what he has to say.

“You do understand that I do not wish for this to be public knowledge for now, yes? What happens down here -”

“- stays down here. I get it. Can you please get to the point? I want to go to bed.”

Racter stopped to think for a moment, then nodded.

“Voidheart, you know me much more than anyone on this boat does. You know I lack the capability to feel complex human emotions - or any emotion at all, thanks to Koschei.”

The drone whirrs when it is mentioned.

“I want you to help me out. Tell me the meaning of something.”

Racter took another step forward towards Voidheart. Something in the elf wanted to take a step back, but he resisted the temptation.

“...okay. What’s the word?”

“No, no. It’s not the definition of a word I am looking for.”

By now, Racter was nearly a half-step away from Voidheart. Voidheart’s heart began to skip a beat or two.

“I’m not quite sure what you’re doing, but you’re -”

Voidheart was cut off from the comment he was making when Racter grabbed his face and suddenly _kissed him._ It took a good moment for it to register in his mind. Once it did, he seemed to melt right into the gesture. His eyes only widened slightly when Racter pulled himself away.

“What is that? What does that mean?”

Voidheart only blinked in reply. He blinked once, twice, before a dumb smile graced his rosy cheeks. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he searched for the words to answer his question.

“Well… what you just did was kiss me.” Voidheart finally replied. “Normally, it’s done when a human or metahuman cherishes another. It’s an act that shows the adoration of one to the other...”

He paused his explanation to briefly glimpse into the Astral Plane. In an odd turn of events, Voidheart could actually feel an emotion radiating from Racter. It was nearly exactly what he suspected: deep-seated adoration that was something beyond friendship.

“...and, if your aura is anything to go off of, you must feel that way towards me.”

Racter’s eyebrows raised in curiosity. His face was inexpressive, but his tone carried a tinge of embarrassment. “I suppose that I do. What should I do about this? Import these feelings -”

“No, no no.” Voidheart tutted, grabbing onto Racter’s face just as he had done to him. “Please, don’t. I quite enjoyed that. May I reciprocate the gesture?”

Racter, for quite possibly the first time in his life, looked upon someone with gentle eyes - and this someone was Voidheart.

“Of course… _lapochka_.”


End file.
